As soon as new broadcast shows begin premiering for the 2014-15 broadcast TV season, so will the fan laments over their favorite show’s ratings and prospects.

“Oh no! It needs to get a 2.0 rating to survive!”

“That’s too much of a drop, it’ll never make it!”

“Look at how well Big Bang Theory did, my show’s a goner!”

Fortunately for fans of individual TV shows, their renewal and cancellation decisions are a lot like the old joke about two guys being chased by a bear.

You don’t have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun the other guy!

In the broadcast TV world, for scripted shows “the other guy” is the other scripted shows on the same network. And you don’t have to outrun them all, even being a little below average in the adults 18-49 ratings (~10-15%) for the show’s network still means pretty certain renewal.

For the purposes of individual show renewal or cancellation decisions, no matter what the network PR flacks would have you believe, ratings performance vs. shows on competing networks is irrelevant!

Fans wanting to see where their favorite broadcast scripted shows stack up on a relative basis vs. the other shows on their network should read the cancellation bear’s Renew / Cancel Index posts beginning next Tuesday, September 23 with posts for each of the broadcast networks. Our very own Cancel Bear will have new posts for each broadcast network every Tuesday during the broadcast season with updated renewal and cancellation projections.

The best way to follow and interact with the Cancel Bear is on Twitter via @TheCancelBear. The Cancel Bear will retweet all the Renew/Cancel Index post titles and URLs as well as engage in a lot more back and forth banter than we do on our standard @TVbytheNumbers Twitter feed.

Note: Of course, it’s the absolute ratings that matter to each network’s bottom line. So when all the shows on a particular network have ratings drops, it’s not bad news for any one of the shows in particular, but it is bad news for the network.

Starring Jerrod Carmichael, David Alan Grier, Loretta Devine, Amber Stevens West and Lil Rel Howery, “The Carmichael Show” is inspired by Jerrod’s relationship with his say-anything contrarian father, his therapist-in-training girlfriend, his ever-hustling brother and his mother who is always, always, always right with Jesus.

The series hit its stride by focusing on hot-button issues that are part of the current national dialogue, including religion, gun control and race relations.

“We’re extremely proud of THE CARMICHAEL SHOW and Jerrod’s voice and point of view is a breath of fresh air in a comedy series,” said Jennifer Salke, President, NBC Entertainment. “This show made a big impact with viewers and critics because it’s funny and relatable but also because it’s fearless about discussing issues that are significant in the world today. We appreciate all the hard work that has gone into this new family comedy from the producers, cast, and crew and look forward to bringing it back to the schedule later this season.”

The 9 p.m. ET edition of “The Carmichael Show” was the most-watched summer comedy on the Big 4 networks in eight years and tied for the #1 summer comedy over that span in adult 18-49 rating, averaging a 1.1 rating, 4 share in 18-49 and 4.7 million viewers overall in “live plus same day” averages from Nielsen Media Research. In total viewers, the 9 p.m. “Carmichael” was the top summer comedy on ABC, CBS, NBC since 2007.

Among those giving strong reviews for “The Carmichael Show” were the Los Angeles Times (“‘The Carmichael Show’ balances pointed topicality with humor”), Newsday (“One smartly crafted comedy”), San Francisco Chronicle (“Everybody loves Jerrod on ‘The Carmichael Show’”) and Hollywood Reporter (“The cast works very well together, cohering as a discordant family unit with great ease”).